Successive interference cancellation receiver processing with selection diversity

ABSTRACT

Techniques are provided to support successive interference cancellation (SIC) receiver processing with selection diversity whereby each of N T  transmit antennas may be turned on or off. One symbol stream may be transmitted from each transmit antenna. A SIC receiver recovers the transmitted symbol streams in a specific order. Up to N T ! orderings are evaluated. For each ordering, N T  post-detection SNRs are obtained for N T  transmit antennas and used to determine N T  data rates, where the data rate is zero if the post-detection SNR is worse than a minimum required SNR. An overall data rate is computed for each ordering based on the N T  data rates. The ordering with the highest overall data rate is selected for use. Up to N T  symbol streams are processed at the data rates for the selected ordering and transmitted. The transmitted symbol streams are recovered in accordance with the selected ordering.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §120

The present application for patent is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/137,982, entitled “Successive InterferenceCancellation Receiver Processing With Selection Diversity”, filed May24, 2005, now allowed, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/670,079, entitled “Successive InterferenceCancellation Receiver Processing With Selection Diversity”, filed Sep.23, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,917,821, both assigned to the assigneehereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention relates generally to communication, and morespecifically to techniques for supporting successive interferencecancellation (SIC) receiver processing with selection diversity in amultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system.

2. Background

A MIMO system employs multiple (N_(T)) transmit antennas and multiple(N_(R)) receive antennas for data transmission. A MIMO channel formed bythe N_(T) transmit and N_(R) receive antennas may be decomposed intoN_(S) independent channels, with N_(S)≦min {N_(T), N_(R)} Each of theN_(S) independent channels corresponds to a dimension. The MIMO systemcan provide improved performance (e.g., increased transmission capacityand/or greater reliability) if the additional dimensionalities createdby the multiple transmit and receive antennas are utilized.

For a full-rank MIMO channel, with N_(S)=N_(T)≦N_(R), a transmitter mayprocess (e.g., encode, interleave, and modulate) N_(T) data streams toobtain N_(T) symbol streams, which are then transmitted from the N_(T)transmit antennas. The transmitted symbol streams may experiencedifferent channel conditions (e.g., different fading and multipatheffects) and may achieve different received signal-to-noise ratios(SNRs). Moreover, due to scattering in the communication link, thetransmitted symbol streams interfere with each other at a receiver.

The receiver receives the N_(T) transmitted symbol streams via N_(R)receive antennas. The receiver may employ a successive interferencecancellation (SIC) processing technique to process the N_(R) receivedsymbol streams from the N_(R) receive antennas to recover the N_(T)transmitted symbol streams. A SIC receiver processes the received symbolstreams in N_(T) successive stages to recover one transmitted symbolstream in each stage. For each stage, the SIC receiver initiallyperforms spatial or space-time processing on the received symbol streamsto obtain “detected” symbol streams, which are estimates of thetransmitted symbol streams. One of the detected symbol streams isselected for recovery. The receiver then processes (e.g., demodulates.deinterleaves, and decodes) this detected symbol stream to obtain adecoded data stream, which is an estimate of the data stream for thesymbol stream being recovered.

Each “recovered” symbol stream (i.e., each detected symbol stream thatis processed to recover the transmitted data stream) is associated witha particular “post-detection” SNR, which is the SNR achieved after thespatial or space-time processing at the receiver. With SIC processing,the post-detection SNR of each recovered symbol stream is dependent onthat stream's received SNR and the particular stage in which the symbolstream is recovered. In general, the post-detection SNR progressivelyimproves for later stages because the interference from symbol streamsrecovered in prior stages is canceled (assuming that the interferencecancellation is effectively performed).

The N_(T) transmit antennas are associated with N_(T) post-detectionSNRs achieved by the N_(T) symbol streams sent from these antennas.These N_(T) post-detection SNRs are obtained for a specific ordering ofrecovering the N_(T) symbol streams at the receiver. It can be shownthat there are N_(T)! possible orderings of recovering the N_(T) symbolstreams and thus N_(T)! possible sets of post-detection SNRs, where “!”denotes a factorial. The receiver may evaluate all N_(T)! possibleorderings and select the ordering that provides the best set ofpost-detection SNRs.

The post-detection SNR of a transmit antenna determines its transmissioncapacity. Depending on the channel conditions, the post-detection SNR ofa given transmit antenna may be so low that it cannot support the lowestdata rate for the MIMO system. In this case, it may be beneficial toturn off that transmit antenna and only use the remaining transmitantennas for data transmission. Turning off a transmit antenna thatcannot support the lowest data rate eliminates a symbol stream thatwould otherwise have interfered with the other symbol streams. This maythen improve the post-detection SNRs of the other symbol streams.

Selection diversity refers to using only transmit antennas that cansupport at least the lowest data rate and turning off transmit antennasthat cannot support the lowest data rate. If each transmit antenna canbe turned on or off independently, then it can be shown that there are

$N_{total} = {\left( {N_{T}!} \right) \cdot \left( {1 + \frac{1}{1!} + \frac{1}{2!} + {\ldots\frac{1}{\left( {N_{T} - 1} \right)!}}} \right)}$possible orderings to evaluate. For example, if N_(T)=4, then there areN_(T)!=24 possible orderings without selection diversity whereby allN_(T) transmit antennas are used, and N_(total)=64 possible orderingswith selection diversity whereby each transmit antenna may be turned onor off independently. This represents a large increase in the number oforderings that the receiver may need to evaluate for selectiondiversity.

There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to support SICreceiver processing with selection diversity without the need toevaluate all N_(total) possible orderings.

SUMMARY

Techniques are provided herein to support SIC receiver processing withselection diversity whereby at most N_(T)! possible orderings areevaluated to determine (1) the data rates to use for the symbol streamssent from the N_(T) transmit antennas and (2) the best ordering forrecovering the transmitted symbol streams. Each of the at most N_(T)!possible orderings is evaluated using SIC receiver processing (asdescribed below) to obtain N_(T) post-detection SNRs for N_(T) transmitantennas. The data rate for each transmit antenna is determined based onits post-detection SNR. A set of discrete data rates may be supported bythe system, and the data rate for each transmit antenna is then one ofthe discrete data rates. A zero or null data rate is used for eachtransmit antenna having a post-detection SNR that is worse than theminimum required SNR (e.g., the required SNR for the lowest non-zerodata rate supported by the system). N_(T) data rates are obtained forN_(T) transmit antennas for each ordering. An overall data rate iscomputed for each ordering based on these N_(T) data rates. The orderingwith the highest overall data rate is selected for use. A transmitterprocesses up to N_(T) symbol streams at the data rates for the selectedordering and transmits these symbol streams from the N_(T) transmitantennas. A receiver recovers the transmitted symbol streams inaccordance with the selected ordering.

Various aspects and embodiments of the invention are described infurther detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, nature, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the detailed description set forth below whentaken in conjunction with the drawings in which like referencecharacters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a transmitter system and a receiver system in a MIMOsystem;

FIG. 2 shows a process for performing SIC receiver processing on N_(R)received symbol streams to recover N_(T) transmitted symbol streams;

FIG. 3 shows a process for determining the data rates for the transmitantennas and the best ordering for a SIC receiver with selectiondiversity;

FIG. 4 shows a specific implementation of the process in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a transmitter subsystem; and

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a receiver subsystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment or design described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments or designs.

The techniques described herein for supporting SIC receiver processingwith selection diversity may be used in various communication systems,such as a MIMO system, a MIMO system that employs orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (i.e., a MIMO-OFDM system), and so on. Forclarity, these techniques are described specifically for a MIMO system.For simplicity, the following description assumes that (1) one datastream is transmitted from each transmit antenna and (2) each datastream is independently processed at a transmitter and may beindividually recovered at a receiver.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a transmitter system 110 and a receiversystem 150 in a MIMO system 100. Transmitter system 110 and receiversystem 150 may each be implemented in an access point (i.e., a basestation) or a user terminal in the MIMO system.

At transmitter system 110, a transmit (TX) data processor 120 receivestraffic data from a data source 112 for up to N_(T) data streams. Eachdata stream is designated for transmission from a respective transmitantenna. TX data processor 120 formats, codes, interleaves, andmodulates the traffic data for each data stream to obtain acorresponding stream of modulation symbols (or “data symbols”). TX dataprocessor 120 may further multiplex pilot symbols with the data symbols.TX data processor 120 provides N_(T) symbol streams to N_(T) transmitterunits (TMTR) 122 a through 122 t. Each symbol stream may include anycombination of data and pilot symbols. Each transmitter unit 122processes its symbol stream and provides a modulated signal suitable fortransmission over the wireless communication link. N_(T) modulatedsignals from transmitter units 122 a through 122 t are transmitted fromN_(T) antennas 124 a through 124 t, respectively.

At receiver system 150, the transmitted modulated signals are receivedby N_(R) antennas 152 a through 152 r, and the received signal from eachantenna 152 is provided to a respective receiver unit (RCVR) 154. Eachreceiver unit 154 conditions and digitizes its received signal andprovides a stream of received symbols. A receive (RX) spatial/dataprocessor 160 receives the N_(R) received symbol streams from N_(R)receiver units 154 a through 154 r, processes these received symbolstreams using SIC receiver processing, and provides N_(T) decoded datastreams. The processing by RX spatial/data processor 160 is described indetail below. RX spatial/data processor 160 further estimates thechannel response between the N_(T) transmit antennas and the N_(R)receive antennas, the received SNRs and/or the post-detection SNRs ofthe symbol streams, and so on (e.g., based on the received pilotsymbols). RX spatial/data processor 160 may use the channel responseestimate to perform spatial or space-time processing, as describedbelow.

Controllers 130 and 170 direct the operation at transmitter system 110and receiver system 150, respectively. Memory units 132 and 172 providestorage for program codes and data used by controllers 130 and 170,respectively.

In an embodiment, controller 170 receives the channel response estimatesand the SNR estimates from RX spatial/data processor 160, determines thedata rate to use for each transmit antenna and the specific ordering forrecovering the symbol streams, and provides feedback information fortransmitter system 110. The feedback information may include, forexample, the data rates for the N_(T) transmit antennas. The feedbackinformation is processed by a TX data processor 184, conditioned bytransmitter units 154 a through 154 r, and transmitted back totransmitter system 110. At transmitter system 110, the modulated signalsfrom receiver system 150 are received by antennas 124, conditioned byreceiver units 122, and processed by an RX data processor 140 to recoverthe feedback information sent by receiver system 150. Controller 130receives and uses the recovered feedback information to (1) control thedata rate for the symbol stream sent from each transmit antenna, (2)determine the coding and modulation scheme to use for each data stream,and (3) generate various controls for TX data processor 120.

In another embodiment, controller 130 obtains the channel responseestimates for the MIMO channel and the noise variance (i.e., noisefloor) at receiver system 150. Controller 130 then determines the datarate to use for each transmit antenna and provides various controls forTX data processor 120. Transmitter system 110 may obtain the channelresponse estimates based on pilot symbols sent by receiver system 150.The receiver noise floor may be estimated by receiver system 150 andsent to transmitter system 110 as feedback information.

In general, the data rates for the transmit antennas and the orderingfor recovering the symbol streams may be determined by the transmittersystem, the receiver system, or both. For clarity, the followingdescription is for the embodiment whereby the data rates and theordering are determined by the receiver system and communicated to thetransmitter system.

The model for the MIMO system may be expressed as:y=Hx+n,  Eq (1)

-   -   where y is a vector of N_(R) received symbols, i.e., y=[y₁ y₂ .        . . y_(N) _(R) ]^(T), where y_(i) is the symbol received on        receive antenna i and i∈{1, . . . , N_(R)};    -   x is a vector of N_(T) transmitted symbols, i.e., x=[x₁ x₂ . . .        x_(N) _(T) ]^(T), where x_(j) is the symbol sent from transmit        antenna j and j∈{1, . . . , N_(T)};    -   H is an N_(R) ×N_(T) channel response matrix for the MIMO        channel, with entries of h_(ij) for i∈{1, . . . , N_(R)} and        j∈{1, . . . , N_(T)}, where h_(ij) is the complex channel gain        between transmit antenna j and receive antenna i;    -   n is additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN); and    -   “^(T)” denotes the transpose.        The noise n has a mean vector of 0 and a covariance matrix of        Λ=σ² I, where 0 is a vector of zeros, I is the identity matrix,        and σ² is the variance of the noise (which is also referred to        as the receiver noise floor). For simplicity, the MIMO channel        is assumed to be a flat-fading narrowband channel. In this case,        the elements of the channel response matrix H are scalars, and        the coupling h_(ij) between each transmit-receive antenna pair        can be represented by a single scalar value. The techniques        described herein may also be used for a frequency selective        channel having different channel gains at different frequencies.

Due to scattering in the communication link, the N_(T) symbol streamstransmitted from the N_(T) transmit antennas interfere with each otherat the receiver. In particular, each transmitted symbol stream isreceived by all N_(R) receive antennas at different amplitudes andphases, as determined by the complex channel gains between the transmitantenna for that symbol stream and the N_(R) receive antennas. Eachreceived symbol stream includes a component of each of the N_(T)transmitted symbol streams. The N_(R) received symbol streams wouldcollectively include all N_(T) transmitted symbols streams, andinstances of each of the N_(T) transmitted symbol streams can be foundin each of the N_(R) received symbol streams.

The SIC receiver processing technique, which is also referred to assuccessive nulling/equalization and interference cancellation processingtechnique, can process the N_(R) received symbol streams to obtain theN_(T) transmitted symbol streams. The SIC receiver processing techniquesuccessively recovers the transmitted symbol streams in multiple stages,one stage for each symbol stream. Each stage recovers one transmittedsymbol stream. As each symbol stream is recovered, the interference itcauses to the remaining not yet recovered symbol streams is estimatedand canceled from the received symbol streams to obtain “modified”symbol streams. The modified symbol streams are then processed by thenext stage to recover the next transmitted symbol stream. If the symbolstreams can be recovered without error (or with minimal errors) and ifthe channel response estimates are reasonably accurate, then theinterference due to the recovered symbol streams can be effectivelycanceled. Each subsequently recovered symbol stream thus experiencesless interference and may achieve a higher post-detection SNR thanwithout interference cancellation.

The following terminology is used for the description below:

-   -   “transmitted” symbol streams—the symbol streams transmitted from        the transmit antennas;    -   “received” symbol streams—the inputs to a spatial or space-time        processor in the first stage of a SIC receiver (see FIG. 6);    -   “modified” symbol streams—the inputs to a spatial or space-time        processor in a subsequent stage of the SIC receiver;    -   “detected” symbol streams—the outputs from the spatial or        space-time processor (up to N_(T)−l+1 symbol streams may be        detected in stage l ); and    -   “recovered” symbol stream—a symbol stream that is recovered by        the receiver to obtain a decoded data stream (only one detected        symbol stream is recovered in each stage).

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a process 200 for performing SIC receiverprocessing on N_(R) received symbol streams to recover N_(T) transmittedsymbol streams. Initially, the index l for the stages of a SIC receiveris set to 1 (i.e., l=1) (step 212). For the first stage, the SICreceiver performs spatial or space-time processing on the N_(R) receivedsymbol streams (as described below) to separate out the N_(T)transmitted symbol streams (step 214). For each stage, the spatial orspace-time processing provides (N_(T)−l+1) detected symbol streams,which are estimates of the transmitted symbol streams not yet recovered.One of the detected symbol streams is selected for recovery (step 216).This detected symbol stream is then processed (e.g., demodulated,deinterleaved, and decoded) to obtain a decoded data stream, which is anestimate of the data stream for the symbol stream being recovered inthis stage (step 218).

A determination is then made whether or not all transmitted symbolstreams have been recovered (step 220). If the answer is ‘yes’ (i.e., ifl=N_(T)), then process 200 terminates. Otherwise, the interference dueto the just recovered symbol stream is estimated (step 222). To obtainthe interference estimate, the decoded data stream is re-encoded,interleaved, and re-modulated with the same coding, interleaving, andmodulation schemes used at the transmitter for this data stream toobtain a “remodulated” symbol stream, which is an estimate of thetransmitted symbol stream just recovered. The remodulated symbol streamis then processed with the channel response estimates to obtain N_(R)interference components, which are estimates of the interference due tothe just recovered symbol stream on the remaining not yet recoveredsymbol streams. The N_(R) interference components are then subtractedfrom the N_(R) received symbol streams to obtain N_(R) modified symbolstreams (step 224). These modified symbol streams represent the streamsthat would have been received if the just recovered symbol stream hadnot been transmitted (i.e., assuming that the interference cancellationwas effectively performed). The index l is then updated (i.e., l=l+1)for the next stage (step 226).

Steps 214 through 218 are then repeated on the N_(R) modified symbolstreams to recover another transmitted symbol stream. Steps 214 through218 are repeated for each transmitted symbol stream to be recovered.Steps 222 through 226 are performed if there is another transmittedsymbol stream to recover. For the first stage, the input symbol streamsare the N_(R) received symbol streams. For each subsequent stage, theinput symbol streams are the N_(R) modified symbol streams from thepreceding stage. The processing for each stage proceeds in similarmanner.

For a SIC receiver, there are N_(T)! possible orderings of recoveringN_(T) transmitted symbol streams. This is because any one of N_(T)detected symbol streams may be recovered in the first stage, any one of(N_(T)−1) detected symbol streams may be recovered in the second stage,and so on, and only one detected symbol stream is available andrecovered in the last stage. The SIC receiver can evaluate each of theN_(T)! possible orderings and select the best ordering for use. In thefollowing description, the index k is used for the N_(T)! orderings,where k∈{1, 2, . . . N_(T)!}. For each ordering k, the order in whichthe N_(T) transmit antennas are recovered is represented as {k₁, k₂, . .. k_(N) _(T) }, where k_(l) for l∈{1, 2, . . . N_(T)} denotes thetransmit antenna to be recovered in stage l of ordering k.

For a SIC receiver, the input symbol streams for stage l of ordering kmay be expressed as:y _(k) ^(l) =H _(k) ^(l) x _(k) ^(l) +n,  Eq (2)

-   -   where y _(k) ^(l) is a vector of N_(R) modified symbols for        stage l of ordering k, i.e.,

${{\underset{\_}{y}}_{k}^{l} = \left\lbrack {y_{k_{1}}^{l}\mspace{14mu} y_{k_{2}}^{l}\mspace{14mu}\ldots\mspace{14mu} y_{k_{N_{R}}}^{l}} \right\rbrack^{T}},$

-   -   where y_(k) _(i) ^(l) is the modified symbol for receive antenna        i in stage l of ordering k;    -   x _(k) ^(l) is a vector of (N_(T)−l+1) transmitted symbols for        stage l of ordering k, i.e.,

${{\underset{\_}{x}}_{k}^{l} = \left\lbrack {x_{k_{l}}\mspace{14mu} x_{k_{l + 1}}\mspace{14mu}\ldots\mspace{14mu} x_{k_{N_{T}}}} \right\rbrack^{T}},$

-   -    where x_(k) _(n) is the symbol sent from transmit antenna        k_(n); and    -   H _(k) ^(l) is an N_(R)×(N_(T)−l+1) reduced channel response        matrix for stage l of ordering k.

Equation (2) assumes that the symbol streams recovered in the prior(l−1) stages are cancelled. The dimensionality of the channel responsematrix H is thus successively reduced by one column for each stage as atransmitted symbol stream is recovered and canceled. For stage l, thereduced channel response matrix H _(k) ^(l) is obtained by removing(l−1) columns in the original matrix H corresponding to the (l−1)previously recovered symbol streams, i.e.

${{\underset{\_}{H}}_{k}^{l} = \left\lbrack {{\underset{\_}{h}}_{k_{l}}\mspace{14mu}{\underset{\_}{h}}_{k_{l + 1}}\mspace{14mu}\ldots\mspace{14mu}{\underset{\_}{h}}_{k_{N_{T}}}} \right\rbrack},$where h _(k) _(n) is an N_(R)×1 vector for the channel response betweentransmit antenna k_(n) and the N_(R) receive antennas. For stage l, the(l−1) previously recovered symbol streams are given indices of {k₁, k₂,. . . k_(l−1)} and the (N_(T)−l+1) not yet recovered symbol streams aregiven indices of {k_(l), k_(l+1), . . . k_(N) _(T) }. Equation (2) maybe rewritten as:

$\begin{matrix}{{\underset{\_}{y}}_{k}^{l} = {{\sum\limits_{n = l}^{N_{T}}{{\underset{\_}{h}}_{k_{n}}x_{k_{n}}}} + {\underset{\_}{n}.}}} & {{Eq}\mspace{14mu}(3)}\end{matrix}$

For stage l, each of the (N_(T)−l+1) transmitted symbol streams thathave not yet been recovered may be “isolated” or “detected” by filteringthe N_(R) modified symbol streams y _(k) ^(l) with a matched filter forthat symbol stream. The matched filter for the symbol stream sent fromtransmit antenna k_(n), for n∈{l, l+1, . . . N_(T)}, has a unit-normvector w _(k) _(n) of N_(R) filter coefficients. To minimizeinterference from the other (N_(T)−l) not yet recovered symbol streamson the symbol stream sent from transmit antenna k_(n), the vector w _(k)_(n) is defined to be orthogonal to the channel response vectors {h _(k)_(n) } for these not yet recovered symbol streams, i.e., w _(k) _(n)^(H) h _(k) _(m) =0, for m∈{l, l+1, . . . N_(T)} and m≠n. For stage l,the transmitted symbol streams from the other (l−1) transmit antennas,k_(n) for n∈{1, 2, . . . l−1}, have already been recovered in priorstages and canceled from the modified symbol streams y _(k) ^(l). Thus,the vector w _(k) _(n) does not need to be orthogonal to {h _(k) _(m) },for m∈{1, 2, . . . l−1}.

The matched filter vector w _(k) _(n) may be derived based on variousspatial and space-time processing techniques. The spatial processingtechniques include a zero-forcing technique (which is also referred toas a channel correlation matrix inversion (CCMI) technique) and aminimum mean square error (MMSE) technique. The space-time processingtechniques include a decision feedback equalizer (DFE), an MMSE linearequalizer (MMSE-LE), and a maximum-likelihood sequence estimator (MLSE).

In an embodiment, the matched filter response w _(k) _(n) is derivedwith a linear zero-forcing equalizer, which performs spatial processingby projecting the received symbol streams over an interference-freesub-space to obtain the detected symbol streams. The linear ZF equalizerfor stage l has an N_(R)×(N_(T)−l+1) response matrix W _(k) ^(l), whichmay be derived based on the reduced channel response matrix H _(k) ^(l),as follows:W _(k) ^(l) =H _(k) ^(l)(( H _(k) ^(l))^(H) H _(k) ^(l))⁻¹.  Eq (4)Since H _(k) ^(l) is different for each stage, W _(k) ^(l) is alsodifferent for each stage. The matched filter response w _(k) _(n) forthe symbol stream sent from transmit antenna k_(n) is then the column ofW _(k) ^(l) corresponding to transmit antenna k_(n).

Stage l of the SIC receiver can derive (N_(T)−l+1) detected symbolstreams, as follows:{circumflex over (x)} _(k) ^(l)=( W _(k) ^(l))^(H) y _(k) ^(l) =x _(k)^(l)+( W _(k) ^(l))^(H) n,  Eq (5)where

${\underset{\_}{\hat{x}}}_{k}^{l} = \left\lbrack {{\hat{x}}_{k_{l}}\mspace{14mu}{\hat{x}}_{k_{l + 1}}\mspace{14mu}\ldots\mspace{11mu}{\hat{\; x}}_{k_{N_{T}}}} \right\rbrack^{T}$and {circumflex over (x)}_(k) _(n) represents the detected symbol streamfrom transmit antenna k_(n). As shown in the right-hand side of equation(5), the detected symbol streams {circumflex over (x)}_(k) ^(l) comprisethe transmitted symbol streams x _(k) ^(l) plus filtered noise, (W _(k)^(l))^(H) n, which is in general correlated with a covariance matrixΣ=σ²(W _(k) ^(l))^(H) W _(k) ^(l).

In stage l of ordering k, the symbol stream sent from transmit antennak_(l) is selected for recovery. The detected symbol stream {circumflexover (x)}_(k) _(l) from transmit antenna k_(l) may be expressed as:{circumflex over (x)} _(k) _(l) =w _(k) _(l) ^(H) y _(k) ^(l) =x _(k)_(l) +w _(k) _(l) ^(H) n.  Eq (6)As shown in the right-hand side of equation (6), the detected symbolstream {circumflex over (x)}_(k) _(l) comprises the transmitted symbolstream x_(k) _(l) plus post-detection or filtered noise w _(k) _(l) ^(H)n.

The post-detection SNR, SNR_(k) _(l) , of the detected symbol stream{circumflex over (x)}_(k) _(l) recovered in stage l of ordering k may beexpressed as:

$\begin{matrix}{{{SNR}_{k_{l}} = \frac{1}{\sigma^{2}{{\underset{\_}{w}}_{k_{l}}}^{2}}},} & {{Eq}\mspace{14mu}(7)}\end{matrix}$where the expected variance of the transmitted data symbol x_(k) _(l) isequal to 1.0, and σ²∥w _(k) _(l) ∥² is the variance of thepost-detection noise, which is w _(k) _(l) ^(H) n. The post-detectionSNR is indicative of the SNR achieved for a detected symbol stream afterthe receiver processing to remove interference from the other symbolstreams. The improvement in the post-detection SNR comes from the factthat the norm of w _(k) _(l) in equation (7) decreases with each stage.

The analysis described above may also be performed based on other spaceor space-time processing techniques. The zero-forcing (CCMI), MMSE, DFE,and MMSE-LE techniques are described in detail in commonly assigned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/993,087, entitled “Multiple-AccessMultiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Communication System,” filed Nov.6, 2001.

The SIC receiver can evaluate each of the N_(T)! possible orderings ofrecovering the transmitted symbol streams. For each ordering k, the SICreceiver can compute a set of N_(T) post-detection SNRs for the N_(T)transmit antennas. The SIC receiver can then select one of the N_(T)!possible orderings for use based on one or more criteria. For example,the selection may be based on overall spectral efficiency. In this case,the post-detection SNR for each transmit antenna may be converted tospectral efficiency, as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{C_{k_{l}} = {{\log_{2}\left( {1 + {SNR}_{k_{l}}} \right)} = {\log_{2}\left( {1 + \frac{1}{\sigma^{2}{{\underset{\_}{w}}_{k_{l}}}^{2}}} \right)}}},} & {{Eq}\mspace{14mu}(8)}\end{matrix}$where C_(k) _(l) is the spectral efficiency of transmit antenna k_(l),which is recovered in stage l of ordering k. Spectral efficiency isequal to data rate normalized by the system bandwidth, and is given inunits of bits per second per Hertz (bps/Hz). The overall spectralefficiency C_(total,k) for all N_(T) transmit antennas for ordering kmay be computed as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{C_{{total},k} = {{\sum\limits_{l = 1}^{N_{T}}C_{k_{l}}} = {\sum\limits_{l = 1}^{N_{T}}{{\log_{2}\left( {1 + {SNR}_{k_{l}}} \right)}.}}}} & {{Eq}\mspace{14mu}(9)}\end{matrix}$

The receiver can compute the overall spectral efficiency for each of theN_(T)! possible orderings. The receiver can then select the orderingwith the highest overall spectral efficiency for use

$\left( {{i.e.},{\max\limits_{k}\left\{ C_{{total},k} \right\}}} \right).$

The MIMO system may be designed to support a set of discrete data rates,which includes non-zero data rates as well as the null or zero datarate. Each non-zero data rate may be associated with a particular codingscheme, a particular modulation scheme, and so on. Each non-zero datarate is further associated with a particular minimum SNR required toachieve the desired level of performance (e.g., 1% packet error rate)for a non-fading, AWGN channel. The required SNR for each non-zero datarate may be determined based on computer simulation, empiricalmeasurements, and so on, as is known in the art. A look-up table may beused to store the supported data rates and their required SNRs.

The selected ordering (e.g., the one with the highest overall spectralefficiency) is associated with a set of N_(T) post-detection SNRs forthe N_(T) transmit antennas. The highest data rate that may be reliablytransmitted from each transmit antenna is determined by itspost-detection SNR. In particular, the post-detection SNR for eachtransmit antenna should be equal to or higher than the required SNR forthe data rate selected for that transmit antenna.

With selection diversity, each transmit antenna may be turned off (i.e.,shut off) if its post-detection SNR is lower than the required SNR forthe lowest non-zero data rate r_(min) supported by the MIMO system. Byturning off transmit antennas that cannot support the lowest non-zerodata rate, the symbol streams sent from other transmit antennas mayexperience less interference and may be able to achieve higherpost-detection SNRs. Improved performance in terms of higher data ratesand/or greater reliability may be achieved.

For a SIC receiver with selection diversity, there are N_(total)possible orderings for evaluation, where N_(total)>N_(T)! and may becomputed as follows. For N_(T) transmit antennas, there are N_(T)different antenna configurations, where each configuration correspondsto a specific number of transmit antennas that is turned on. The N_(T)antenna configurations are given in column 1 of Table 1, and the numberof active transmit antennas for each configuration is given in column 2.Each antenna configuration is associated with one or more antennapatterns, where each antenna pattern indicates which transmit antennasare turned on and which transmit antennas are turned off. It can beshown that there are: (1) only one antenna pattern for the configurationwith all N_(T) transmit antennas turned on, (2) N_(T) possible antennapatterns for the configuration with (N_(T)−1) transmit antennas turnedon, (3) N_(T)−(N_(T)−1)/2 possible antenna patterns for theconfiguration with (N_(T)−2) transmit antennas turned on, and so on, and(4) N_(T) possible antenna patterns for the configuration with only onetransmit antenna turned on. The number of antenna patterns for eachconfiguration is given in column 3 of Table 1.

For each antenna pattern, the number of possible orderings for thatantenna pattern is dependent on the active transmit antennas that areturned on and is not dependent on the inactive transmit antennas thatare turned off. Thus, for configuration 1 with all N_(T) transmitantennas turned on, there are N_(T)! possible orderings for recoveringthe N_(T) active transmit antennas, as described above. Forconfiguration 2 with (N_(T)−1) transmit antennas turned on, there are(N_(T)−1)! possible orderings for recovering the (N_(T)−1) activetransmit antennas for each antenna pattern of configuration 2. Forconfiguration 3 with (N_(T)−2) transmit antennas turned on, there are(N_(T)−2)! possible orderings for recovering the (N_(T)−2) activetransmit antennas for each antenna pattern of configuration 3. Thecomputation proceeds in similar manner for other configurations. Forconfiguration N_(T) with one transmit antenna turned on, there is onlyone possible ordering for recovering the single active transmit antennafor each antenna pattern of configuration N_(T). The number of orderingsfor each antenna pattern of each configuration is given in column 4 ofTable 1.

The number of orderings for each antenna configuration is obtained bymultiplying the number of antenna patterns for that configuration withthe number of orderings for each antenna pattern of that configuration.This is given in column 5 of Table 1. The total number of possibleorderings, N_(total), with selection diversity is then obtained bysumming the quantities in column 5 of Table 1, as follows:N _(total) =N _(T) !+N _(T) !+N _(T)!/2+ . . . +N _(T)·(N _(T)−1)+N_(T),which can be rewritten as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{N_{total} = {\left( {N_{T}!} \right) \cdot {\left( {1 + \frac{1}{1!} + \frac{1}{2!} + {\ldots\frac{1}{\left( {N_{T} - 2} \right)!}} + \frac{1}{\left( {N_{T} - 1} \right)!}} \right).}}} & {{Eq}\mspace{14mu}(10)}\end{matrix}$

TABLE 1 Number of Number of Antenna Transmit Number of Orderings/ Numberof Config- Antennas Antenna Patterns Antenna Orderings for urationTurned On for Configuration Pattern Configuration 1 N_(T) 1 N_(T)!N_(T)! 2 (N_(T) − 1) N_(T) (N_(T) − 1)! N_(T)! 3 (N_(T) − 2) N_(T) ·(N_(T) − 1)/2 (N_(T) − 2)! N_(T)!/2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (N_(T)− 1) 2 N_(T) · (N_(T) − 1)/2 2! N_(T) · (N_(T) − 1) N_(T) 1 N_(T) 1!N_(T)

Viewed differently, if each transmit antenna can be turned on or offindependently, then there are 2^(N) ^(T) possible antenna patterns. Forexample, if N_(T)=4, then there are 2^(N) ^(T) =16 possible antennapatterns, which are represented as ‘0000’, ‘0001’, ‘0010’, ‘0011’, . . ., and ‘1111’, where ‘1’ indicates an active antenna that is turned onand ‘0’ indicates an inactive antenna that is turned off. The patternwith all zeros is not evaluated if at least one transmit antenna is usedfor data transmission. Thus, there are a total of (2^(N)−1) activeantenna patterns to evaluate.

For each active antenna pattern m with N_(act,m) transmit antennas thatare turned on, the SIC receiver can evaluate the N_(act,m)! possibleorderings of recovering the symbol streams sent from the N_(act,m)active transmit antennas. For each of the N_(act,m)! possible orderingsfor a given active antenna pattern, the SIC receiver can (1) obtain aset of post-detection SNRs for the active transmit antennas in thatpattern m (the post-detection SNR for a transmit antenna that is turnedoff may be set to zero) and (2) compute the overall spectral efficiencyfor that ordering/pattern. The SIC receiver can then select theordering/pattern with the highest overall spectral efficiency among theN_(total) possible orderings.

The SIC receiver with selection diversity may evaluate the N_(total)possible orderings based on the following pseudo-code:

 10 For m=1 to 2^(N) ^(T) −1 active antenna patterns  20 For k=1 toN_(act,m)! orderings {  30 For l =1 to N_(act,m) stages {  40 Obtaindetected symbol stream for transmit antenna k_(l);  50 Computepost-detection SNR for transmit antenna k_(l);  60 Compute spectralefficiency of transmit antenna k_(l);  70 }  80 Compute overall spectralefficiency for ordering k of pattern m;  90 } 100 Select theordering/pattern with highest overall spectral efficiency 110 Determinethe data rates for the N_(T) transmit antennas for the selectedordering/pattern

In the above pseudo-code, each active antenna pattern m defines aspecific set of N_(act,m) active transmit antennas and (N_(T)−N_(act,m))inactive transmit antennas, where N_(act,m) is dependent on the antennapattern m. Each ordering k defines a specific order in which theN_(act,m) active transmit antennas are recovered. The ordering may berepresented as {k₁, k₂, . . . k_(l), . . . k_(N) _(act,m) } where the(N_(T)−N_(act,m)) inactive transmit antennas are not included in the setand k_(l) is the transmit antenna to recover in stage l of ordering k.Different orderings have different mappings of transmit antennas to theset {k₁, k₂, . . . k_(l), . . . k_(N) _(act,m) }. Whether or not a giventransmit antenna is active is determined by the active antenna patternm. The brute-force method described above evaluates N_(total) possibleorderings for the SIC receiver with selection diversity.

A simplified method is provided herein that evaluates at most N_(T)!possible orderings to determine the data rates for the transmit antennasand the best ordering for the SIC receiver with selection diversity.This represents a substantial reduction over the N_(total) possibleorderings evaluated by the brute-force method. The simplification isbased on a lemma which states that, for any specific ordering with azero data rate for at least one transmit antenna, there exists anotherordering with non-zero data rates for all transmit antennas with thesame or greater throughput. This lemma indicates that the active antennapattern of all ones (‘111 . . . 1’) provides the highest throughput ofall (2^(N) ^(T) −1) active antenna patterns and is the only one thatneeds to be evaluated.

For simplicity, the proof of the lemma is described below for the casein which only one transmit antenna is turned off. For the proof, thetransmit antennas are given indices of 1, 2, . . . N_(T) and arerecovered based on the ordering {1, 2, . . . N_(T)} where transmitantenna 1 is recovered first and transmit antenna N_(T) is recoveredlast. Transmit antenna i is switched off, where 1≦i≦N_(T). The datarates supported by the N_(T) transmit antennas are denoted as {r₁, r₂, .. . , r_(i−1), 0, r_(i+1), . . . , r_(N) _(T) }. These data rates areobtained based on the post-detection SNRs for the transmit antennas.

For a SIC receiver, the data rate supported by each transmit antenna nis dependent only on the data rates of subsequently recovered transmitantennas {n+1, n+2, . . . N_(T)} and is not dependent on the data ratesof prior recovered transmit antennas {1, 2, . . . n−1}. This propertyassumes that the interference due to the prior recovered transmitantennas is effectively canceled and has no impact on transmit antennan. Based on this property, the N_(T) transmit antennas in the originalordering can be rearranged so that transmit antenna i is now the firstantenna and the original ordering is otherwise preserved. Thisrearrangement does not impact the data rates for any of the (N_(T)−1)active transmit antennas.

The new antenna ordering is then {i, 1, 2, . . . , i−1, i+1, . . . ,N_(T)} and the associated data rates are {0, r₁, r₂, . . . , r_(i−1),r_(i+1), . . . , r_(N) _(T) }. For this new ordering, since transmitantenna i is recovered first, the data rate used for transmit antenna idoes not affect the data rates for the other (N_(T)−1) transmitantennas, so long as transmit antenna can be recovered error-free orwith low error and its interference can be canceled. A non-zero datarate may then be used for transmit antenna i and this data rate isdependent on the data rates for the other (N_(T)−1) transmit antennas.Thus, the data rates achievable by the original ordering with transmitantenna i turned off can also be achieved by the new ordering with anon-zero rate for transmit antenna i. The proof of the lemma may beextended in similar manner to cases where multiple transmit antennas areturned off.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a process 300 for determining the datarates for the N_(T) transmit antennas and the ordering for a SICreceiver with selection diversity. Initially, the index k used for thepossible orderings is set to 1 (step 310). Ordering k is evaluated usingSIC receiver processing to obtain N_(T) post-detection SNRs for N_(T)transmit antennas (312). The data rate for each transmit antenna is thendetermined based on its post-detection SNR (step 314). The data rate foreach transmit antenna may be one of the discrete data rates supported bythe system. A zero data rate is used for each transmit antenna with apost-detection SNR worse than the minimum required SNR, which may be therequired SNR for the lowest non-zero data rate supported by the system.N_(T) data rates are obtained for N_(T) transmit antennas for orderingk, where any of the N_(T) data rates may be the zero data rate. Anoverall data rate is computed for ordering k based on the N_(T) datarates (step 316).

A determination is then made whether or not all orderings have beenevaluated (step 320). If the answer is ‘no’, then the ordering index kis updated (step 322) and the process returns to step 312 to evaluatethe next ordering. A maximum of N_(T)! orderings are evaluated. If allof the orderings have been evaluated, then one of the evaluatedorderings is selected based on their overall data rates (step 330). Forexample, the selected ordering may be the one with the highest overalldata rate among all of the orderings evaluated.

Process 300 may be performed by receiver system 150 and the data ratesfor the selected ordering may be sent to transmitter system 110 asfeedback information. Alternatively or additionally, process 300 may beperformed by transmitter system 110. In any case, transmitter system 110processes up to N_(T) symbol streams at the data rates for the selectedordering and transmits these symbol streams from the N_(T) transmitantennas. Receiver system 150 recovers the transmitted symbol streams inaccordance with the selected ordering.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a process 400 for determining the datarates for the transmit antennas and the ordering for a SIC receiver withselection diversity. Process 400 is a specific implementation of process300 in FIG. 3. Initially, the ordering index k is set to 1 and thevariable r_(best) for the best overall data rate is set to 0 (step 410).

To evaluate ordering k, the order of recovering the transmit antennas{k₁, k₂, . . . k_(N) _(T) } is first determined (step 420). The stageindex f is set to 1 and the variable r_(total) for the overall data ratefor ordering k is set to 0 (step 422). For each stage l, spatial orspace-time processing is first performed on the N_(R) input symbolstreams y _(k) ^(l) to obtain the detected symbol stream {circumflexover (x)}_(k) _(l) for transmit antenna k_(l) to be recovered in thatstage (step 430). This can be achieved by (1) obtaining the ZF equalizerresponse matrix W _(k) ^(l) for stage l based on the reduced channelresponse matrix H _(k) ^(l), as shown in equation (4), and (2)multiplying the input symbol streams y _(k) ^(l) with the matched filtervector w _(k) _(l) for transmit antenna k_(l) as shown in equation (6).The post-detection SNR for transmit antenna k_(l) is then computed asshown in equation (7) (step 432). The data rate r_(k) _(l) for transmitantenna k_(l) is determined based on its post-detection SNR (e.g., asshown in equation (8) or using a look-up table) (step 434). The overalldata rate for ordering k is then updated as r_(total)=r_(total)+r_(k)_(l) (step 436).

A determination is then made whether or not all transmit antennas havebeen recovered for ordering k (step 440). If the answer is ‘no’, thenthe interference due to the just recovered symbol stream from transmitantenna k_(l) is estimated and canceled from the input symbol streams y_(k) ^(l) to obtain the input symbol streams y _(k) ^(l+1) for the nextstage (step 442). The stage index is then updated as l=l+1 (step 444),and the process returns to step 430 to recover another symbol stream foranother transmit antenna.

If all transmit antennas have been recovered (i.e., the answer is ‘yes’for step 440), then a determination is made whether or not the overalldata rate for ordering k is higher than the best overall data rate thusfar (step 450). If the answer is ‘yes’, then the ordering k and the datarates {r_(k) _(l) } for the transmit antennas are saved, and the bestoverall data rate is set to the overall data rate for ordering k (i.e.,r_(best)=r_(total)) (step 452). If the answer is ‘no’ in step 450, thenthe results for ordering k are not saved. In any case, a determinationis next made whether or not all orderings have been evaluated (step460). If the answer is ‘no’, then the ordering index k is updated ask=k+1 (step 462), and the process returns to step 420 to evaluate thisnew ordering. Otherwise, the best ordering and the data rates for thetransmit antennas are provided (step 464). The process then terminates.

For clarity, the techniques for performing SIC receiver processing withselection diversity have been described for a MIMO system. Thesetechniques may also be used for other systems such as, for example, aMIMO-OFDM system. For the MIMO-OFDM system, one symbol stream may betransmitted from all subbands of each transmit antenna using OFDMprocessing. At the receiver, the post-detection SNR may be determinedfor each subband of each transmit antenna. The post-detection SNRs ofall subbands of each transmit antenna may be combined to obtain thepost-detection SNR for that transmit antenna. The ordering and datarates may then be selected based on the post-detection SNRs for thetransmit antennas as described above.

Transmitter System

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a transmitter subsystem 500, which is anembodiment of the transmitter portion of transmitter system 110 inFIG. 1. For this embodiment, TX data processor 120 includes ademultiplexer (Demux) 510, N_(T) encoders 512 a through 512 t, N_(T)channel interleavers 514 a through 514 t, N_(T) symbol mapping units 516a through 516 t, and N_(T) multiplexers (Muxes) 518 a through 518 t(i.e., one set of encoder, channel interleaver, symbol mapping unit, andmultiplexer for each of the N_(T) transmit antennas). Demultiplexer 510demultiplexes the traffic data (i.e., the information bits) into up toN_(T) data streams. One data stream is provided for each transmitantenna with a non-zero data rate. Each data stream is provided at thedata rate selected for the transmit antenna, as indicated by the datarate control.

Each encoder 512 receives and encodes a respective data stream based onthe selected coding scheme (as indicated by the coding control) andprovides code bits. The coding increases the reliability of the datatransmission. The selected coding scheme may include any combination ofCRC coding, convolutional coding, turbo coding, block coding, and so on.Each encoder 512 provides code bits to a respective channel interleaver514, which interleaves the code bits based on a particular interleavingscheme. If the interleaving is dependent on data rate, then controller130 provides an interleaving control (as indicated by the dashed line)to channel interleaver 514. The interleaving provides time, frequency,and/or spatial diversity for the code bits.

Each channel interleaver 514 provides interleaved bits to a respectivesymbol mapping unit 516, which maps (i.e., modulates) the interleavedbits based on the selected modulation scheme (as indicated by themodulation control) and provides modulation symbols. Unit 516 groupseach set of B interleaved bits to form a B-bit binary value, where B≧1,and further maps each B-bit value to a specific modulation symbol basedon the selected modulation scheme (e.g., QPSK, M-PSK, or M-QAM, whereM=2^(B)). Each modulation symbol is a complex value in a signalconstellation defined by the selected modulation scheme. Each symbolmapping unit 516 provides modulation symbols (or “data symbols”) to arespective multiplexer 518, which multiplexes the data symbols withpilot symbols using, for example, time division multiplex (TDM) or codedivision multiplex (CDM). Multiplexers 518 a through 518 t provide up toN_(T) symbol streams to transmitter units 122 a through 122 t, whichprocess these symbol streams to obtain modulated signals. Other designsfor transmitter subsystem 500 may also be used and are within the scopeof the invention.

Controller 130 may perform various functions for data transmission fromthe N_(T) transmit antennas. For example, controller 130 may receive theN_(T) data rates for the N_(T) transmit antennas (where one or more ofthese data rates may be zero) as feedback information from receiversystem 150. Controller 130 may then generate the data rate, coding,interleaving, and modulation controls for the processing units within TXdata processor 120. Alternatively, controller 130 may receive thechannel response estimates, evaluate the possible orderings, select theordering and data rates for the transmit antennas, and generate thecontrols for the processing units within TX data processor 120.

Receiver System

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a receiver subsystem 600, which is anembodiment of the receiver portion of receiver system 150 in FIG. 1. Forthis embodiment, RX MIMO/data processor 160 includes N_(T) successive(i.e., cascaded) receiver processing stages 610 a through 610 t, onestage for each of the N_(T) transmit antennas. Each receiver processingstage 610 (except for the last stage 610 t) includes a spatial processor620, an RX data processor 630, and an interference canceller 640. Thelast stage 610 t includes only spatial processor 620 t and RX dataprocessor 630 t.

For the first stage 610 a, spatial processor 620 a receives the N_(R)received symbol streams y, performs spatial or space-time processing(e.g., zero-forcing) on the received symbol streams, and provides thedetected symbol stream {circumflex over (x)}_(k) ₁ for the firsttransmit antenna in the selected ordering k. RX data processor 630 afurther processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes) thedetected symbol stream {circumflex over (x)}_(k) ₁ to obtain a decodeddata stream {circumflex over (d)}_(k) ₁ , which is an estimate of thedata stream d_(k) ₁ for the symbol stream x_(k) ₁ being recovered.

For the first stage 610 a, interference canceller 640 a receives theN_(R) received symbol streams y and the decoded data stream {circumflexover (d)}_(k) ₁ . Interference canceller 640 a performs the processing(e.g., encoding, interleaving, and symbol mapping) to obtain aremodulated symbol stream, {hacek over (x)}_(k) ₁ , which is an estimateof the symbol stream x_(k) ₁ just recovered. The remodulated symbolstream {hacek over (x)}_(k) _(l) is further processed to obtainestimates of the interference components i _(k) ¹ due to the justrecovered symbol stream. The interference components i _(k) ¹ are thensubtracted from the first stage's input symbol streams y to obtain N_(R)modified symbol streams y _(k) ², which include all but the cancelledinterference components. The modified symbol streams y _(k) ² are thenprovided to the second stage.

For each of the second through last stages 610 b through 610 t, thespatial processor for that stage receives and processes the N_(R)modified symbol streams y _(k) ^(l) from the interference canceller inthe preceding stage to obtain the detected symbol stream {circumflexover (x)}_(k) _(l) for that stage. The detected symbol stream{circumflex over (x)}_(k) _(l) is then processed by the RX dataprocessor to obtain the decoded data stream {circumflex over (d)}_(k)_(l) . For each of the second through second-to-last stages, theinterference canceller in that stage receives the N_(R) modified symbolstreams y _(k) ^(l) from the interference canceller in the precedingstage and the decoded data stream d _(k) _(l) from the RX data processorwithin the same stage, derives the N_(R) interference components i _(k)^(l) due to the symbol stream x_(k) _(l) recovered by that stage, andprovides N_(R) modified symbol streams y _(k) ^(l+1) for the next stage.

The SIC receiver processing is also described in commonly assigned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/120,966, entitled “Ordered SuccessiveInterference Cancellation Receiver Processing for Multipath Channels,”filed Apr. 9, 2002.

A channel estimator 650 also receives the N_(R) received symbol streamsy, estimates the channel response matrix H and the noise variance σ²based on the received pilot symbols, and provides the channel responseand noise estimates (e.g., Ĥ and {circumflex over (σ)}²). The estimatedchannel response matrix Ĥ is used for space or space-time processing byall stages, as described above. Controller 170 receives the channelresponse and noise estimates, evaluates up to N_(T)! possible orderings,computes the set of post-detection SNRs for each ordering, anddetermines the best ordering and the data rates for the selectedordering. Memory unit 172 stores a look-up table (LUT) 660 of supporteddata rates and their required SNRs. Look-up table 660 is used bycontroller 170 to determine the data rate for each transmit antennabased on its post-detection SNR. Controller 170 provides the selectedordering to RX data processor 160 and may provide the data rates for theselected ordering as feedback information to transmitter system 110.

The techniques described herein for supporting SIC receiver processingwith selection diversity may be implemented by various means. Forexample, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing unitsfor SIC receiver processing with selection diversity (e.g., TX dataprocessor 120 and controller 130 at transmitter system 110, and RXspatial/data processor 160 and controller 170 at receiver system 150)may be implemented within one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signalprocessing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers,micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a software implementation, the SIC receiver processing withselection diversity may be implemented at the transmitter and receiversystems with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. The software codes may be storedin a memory unit (e.g., memory units 132 and 172 in FIG. 1) and executedby a processor (e.g., controllers 130 and 170). The memory unit may beimplemented within the processor or external to the processor, in whichcase it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via variousmeans as is known in the art.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

1. A method of determining a data transmission in a multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) communication system, comprising: determining adata rate for each of a plurality of transmit antennas, for each orderof a plurality of orders of decoding a plurality of symbol streams basedon a post-detection SNR; computing an overall data rate for each orderfor the plurality of transmit antennas based on each data rate of aplurality of data rates for each order; and using a processor coupledwith a memory operative in selecting one order of the plurality oforders based on each of the overall data rates.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the plurality of orders is equal to no more than N_(T)!,where N_(T) is a number of transmit antennas.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising selecting a discrete data rate, for each order, of aset of discrete data rates based upon the computed overall data rate foreach order.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the data ratecomprises setting the data rate to zero if post-detection SNR is below aminimum required SNR.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one orderhas a greater overall data rate than each of other of the plurality oforders.
 6. An apparatus in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)communication system comprising: memory means; and processor meanscoupled with the memory means wherein, the processor means is operativeto select one order decoding a plurality of symbol streams according toan overall data rate of each of the plurality of orders, wherein theoverall data rate for each order corresponds to a plurality of datarates for each of a plurality of transmit antennas.
 7. The apparatus ofclaim 6, wherein a number of the plurality of orders is less thanN_(T)!, where N_(T) is a number of transmit antennas.
 8. The apparatusof claim 6, wherein the memory is operative to store a set of discretedata rates supported by the system and a set of required SNRs for theset of discrete data rates.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein theprocessor is operative to evaluate each of the plurality of orders basedon channel response information and noise estimates.
 10. The apparatusof claim 6, wherein the processor is operative to set the data rate tozero if post-detection SNR is below a minimum required SNR.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 6, wherein the one order has a greater overall datarate than each of other of the plurality of orders.
 12. Aprocessor-readable medium encoded with instructions for determining adata transmission in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)communication system, the instructions comprising code for: determininga data rate for each of a plurality of transmit antennas, for each orderof a plurality of orders of decoding a plurality of symbol streams basedon a post-detection SNR; computing an overall data rate for each orderfor the plurality of transmit antennas based on each data rate of aplurality of data rates for each order; and selecting one order of theplurality of orders based on each of the overall data rates.